District News

SAGINAW — Meeting for the ninth time in three years, the Godley Lady Cats came away with a 72-59 victory over No. 2 Kennedale in the Class 4A regional quarterfinals Tuesday at Chisholm Trail High School.

No. 4 Godley (33-4) advances to the Class 4A Region I tournament and will face Midland Greenwood (25-12) at 7 p.m. Friday in the regional semifinals at Lubbock Christian University.

Godley and Kennedale (33-4) battled through a tightly contested first three-and-a-half quarters before Godley pulled away late. Godley led 16-13 after the first quarter but Kennedale used a run in the second quarter to take a 32-31 led into halftime.

The Lady Cats led 56-48, entering the fourth but Kennedale cut the lead down to four before Godley pulled away late.

Godley Coach Mark Chauveaux said the difference in the second half was simply rebounding and making shots down the stretch.

“I don't know what was different other than we started getting rebounds,” Chauveaux said. “We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds in the first half. We did a much better job of rebounding in the second half.

“We also did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half. We just had some people make some plays defensively, and then attack and get the ball to the hole and finish. We did a good job of making shots in the fourth quarter.”

The Lady Cats have knocked off the No. 2 and 17 ranked teams in the state in back-to-back rounds as they've qualified for the regional tournament. Doing so against Kennedale, a former district foe which Godley shared back-to-back district titles with, was a memorable moment for Chauveaux and the Lady Cats.

“It's not an easy road or easy route that we had to get to regionals, but ultimately at some point you've got to beat teams that are really good,” he said. “We've been able to do that the last couple of games. As far as Kennedale goes, it's the last time we'll play them with the kids we have now and they kids they have now. The majority of our teams are made up of seniors. To beat them for the last time, I'm just really proud of our team. It's a special group.”

The winner of Godley and Greenwood will play in the regional finals Saturday against the winner of Levelland and Stephenville, the District 8-4A runner-up behind Godley. Article shared courtesy of the Cleburne Times-Review, A.J. Crisp Reporter. Click here to view the article on the Times-Review website.